Sentenced to Death, Lemaricus Davidson Arrives at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
Lemaricus Davidson arrived Friday evening around 6 p.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, TN. Riverbend is Tennessee’s only prison with a death row.
Davidson was transferred there after a Knox County jury sentenced him to death by lethal injection for the 2007 kidnap, rape, torture and murder of Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend Christopher Newsom 23.
The jury from Knoxville deliberated about four hours before returning the death penalty verdict.
“The punishment is death,” the jury foreman said.
“The murder was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel,” the foreman said, reading from the verdict form.
Dorinda Carter, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction said that Davidson will spend 23 hours per day alone in his cell every day, with just one hour of daylight in a caged yard.
That status won’t change for at least 18 months, Carter added. Depending on his behavior, Davidson could eventually be upgraded to allow occasional phone calls or the chance to apply for inmate jobs such as cleaning, she said.
“Regardless of their status, they don’t ever leave that building,” she said.
Davidson’s brother, Letalvis Cobbins, 26, was convicted in August and is serving life without parole. He is in a protective safety unit away from the general population at a West Tennessee prison after expressing fears for his safety.
Pending trial are suspects George Thomas, 26, who will face a Hamilton County jury Dec. 1, and Vanessa Coleman, 21, whose case is on hold pending a pre-trial appeal.
Read complete trial coverage by Jamie Satterfield at knoxnews.com:
